One
day in my high school debate class, as often happened in that particular
course, we were having a wide-ranging discussion about a variety of
topics. The topic for the day was humor and
what makes something funny. We discovered that humor is really difficult to describe
or even to point to specific attributes.
I
don’t remember all the details of the conversation, but I do remember our
teacher told this joke:
Question: What did the insomniac
agnostic dyslexic do?
Answer: He lay awake at night
wondering if there really is a dog.
Before
you get upset with me for including this joke, please know that I recognize it
is problematic It is slightly
irreverent, and it cuts a little too close for comfort to those who have
struggles with learning or love someone else who does. Stay with me for a bit longer. I really am going somewhere with this entry.
The
point of including this joke is that, for whatever reason, it has stuck with me
for almost 40 years, and it includes a misperception I have been living with
for just as long. It contains a classic
example of misperception by simplification.
You see, for forty years I assumed that I had a decent understanding of
dyslexia, and I think my assumption might be based on this one joke. Dyslexia, I thought, was the transposing of
letters as in the example above.
Fascinating
Last
month, I came across a short article and a short video clip. The article was written by Kelly Sandman-Hurley
and started with a challenge that I’ve included here. Take a moment to read the text in the box
below.
Kelly
Sandman-Hurley says, “You just experienced dyslexia for one minute. During that minute, the passage slowed you down
and forced you to pronounced words that didn’t seem to make any sense and
weren’t familiar. You knew they were
wrong, but you read them anyway.”
In
the rest of the article, she debunks myths about dyslexia. Quite honestly, I held most of the common
misperceptions and myths, and my guess is you might as well. If you have five minutes, this video clip is fascinating
and may help you better understand about 20% of the students sitting in your
classroom. (That is not a misprint. Twenty percent is the right number according
to Sandman-Hurley because dyslexia occurs on a continuum from mild to profound.)
Fun
Since
I started with a joke, I thought this might be a good time to end with some as
well. A few weeks back I sent you a list
of really bad jokes and asked you to send me your favorite bad jokes. So here they are. If you don’t like bad puns, warped humor,
and/or groaners, stop reading. If you
do, read on.
- The first chemistry teacher said to the second, "A student threw sodium chloride at me today." The second chemistry teacher replied, "That's a salt."
- There's a new post-apocalyptic soap opera on daytime TV…. As the World Burns.
- What do you call a taco that has been in the freezer? A brrrrrrrrr-ito. (Author’s comment: Yep I made it up. I’ve told to my kid at least once a month for the past 3-4 years, and she groans every time. Mission accomplished.)
- A neutron walks into a bar and orders a drink. When it arrives, the neutron asks, “How much?” The bartender replies, “For you, no charge.”
- A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.
- England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
- I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.
- They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O.
- I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.
- Jokes about German sausages are the wurst.
- I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.
- I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.
- I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.
- I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.
- I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me. (In recognition of all of you No-Shave November enthusiasts….)
- Broken pencils are pretty much pointless.
- I dropped out of the Communism class because of lousy Marx.
- All the toilets in New York’s police stations have been stolen. As of now, it appears the police have nothing to go on.
Special
thanks to Kelli Hanes (and her husband), Tabby McClain, Jeremy Sprague, Cliff Bailey,
Laura Pickell (and her son Wyatt). Which
contributor supplied which joke will be kept anonymous to protect the guilty.
Have
a great week, HSE. I hope it is both fun
and fascinating.
Phil
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